Terminal for electric conduits.



F. I. JOHNSON.

TERMINAL FOR ELECTRIC CONDUITS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, I916.

H mm 2 d 1 I F m n m a u 5 m z, W M I 4 L I w W m at I? o W. 7 I 1F 5 W. 2 Z 1 w a FREDERICK I. JOHNSON, OF WARREN, RHODE ISLAND.

TERMINAL FOR ELECTRIC CONDUITS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

Application filed February 14, 1916. Serial No. 78,101.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK I. JOHN- SON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the town of \Varren, in the county of Bristol and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Terminalsfor Electric Conduits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric conduit terminals of the class adapted to close the end of the conduit, protect the electric wires leading therefrom and to permit the cap portion to be screwed onto the end ofthe conduit without twisting the wires leading therethrough.

This invention is an improvement on my co-pending application Serial No. 69114: filed Dec. 28, 1915, and has for its object to provide a conduit terminal having a head formed of insulating material which is rotatably connected to the sleeve or body portion, whereby this sleeve or body portion may be threaded securely and bound onto the end of the conduit without turning the cap and without in any way binding the porcelain cap, to avoid any possibility of cracking or breaking the sameI A further object of this invention is to attach a collar member to the head member, and attach this collar member to the sleeve portion by rolling the edges of a separate and independent tubular thimble over the inwardly extending edges of both whereby the head and sleeve are permanently but loosely connected together permitting one to rotate relative to the 0th r while the sleeve is being screwed onto the nd of the conduit, and that without twisting or displacing the wires extending through the head.

Another featureof my invention is that the device is completely assembled into a single unit fitting at the factory ready to be screwed into position on the conduit without being obliged to find andfurther assemble the parts thus avoiding loss of parts which has been the case where the device is made up of several pieces to be assembled by the workmen before it can be positioned on the conduit.

By this construction much extra labor and time are saved.

It is found in practice that in most of the devices used for this purpose when the same is positioned and set up on the end of the conduit a strain is brought to bear upon the porcelain resulting in cracking, injuring and destroying a large percentage of these delicate insulating members causing considerable loss. To obviate this serious difficulty I provide an inwardly extending shoulder on the sleeve which is adapted to bring up against the endof-the cap whereby the sleeve may be firmly bound upon the conduit without bringing any pressure whatever upon the insulating. head thu's effectually preventing breakage of the same.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

I Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my improved end cap as loosely connected to the sleeve and the sleeve as rigidly connected to the end of the conduit.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 3. V

Fig. 8-- is a top view showing the construction illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4'is a sectional view showing the ferrule with its upper edge turned outward which is the first step in forming the thimble.

Fig. 5- is a view of the thimble with both edges turned outward in which form it engages and loosely connects together the sleeve and collar.

Fig. 6- is a plan view of the collar which engages the upper edge of the cap flange.

Fig. 7-- is a plan view of the collar memher which engages the under side of the cap flange bothcollars being provided with holes for the reception of rivets.

Fig. 8 shows another form of sleeve in which the neck portion is formed integral, which neck portion is adapted to be turned outward over the lower collar for loosely connecting the head with the sleeve.

Fig. 9 shows a shouldered rivet which is employed in connecting together the up per and lower collars shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the head member of my improved electric conduit terminal, which may be constructed of any suitable insulating material but is preferably formed somewhat hollow as at 11 on its inner side roviding a pocket therein and is preferab y constructed of porcelain. Any desired number of holes 12 may be formed through this head through which the wires 13 may pass upon leaving the conduit 14 and a flange portion 15 is formed around the lower edge of this head member. A flat collar member 16 is fitted overthis head 10 to rest upon the flange 14 and is provided with'. ears 17 having holes 18 through which rivets or other fastening de whose body portions are a trifle longer than the width of the flange 15 so that when riveted together .the flange will not be bound but is free to turn between these collars, thereby obviating any possibility of gripping, binding or otherwise exerting a pressure upon this porcelain which would have I a tendency to crack and destroy the same.

Tn order to connect this procelain' head to the end of a conduit, 1 have provided a sleeve 24: preferably in.the form of a nut, which may be secured to the end of the conduit by any suitable means but T have herein shown this sleeve asbeing, threaded on this inner surface at 25 to be screwed onto the end of the conduit without turning the head and so prevent twisting the wires which pass out through this head.

Tn some cases instead of using a thimble 'or ferrule T form a neck on the sleeve 31, see Fig. 8, and then roll this neck portion outward and over onto the collar 32 illustrated in dotted lines in said figure, but this construction is not as good from a prac tical standpoint as it is diflicult in practice to mold or cast this sleeve with its thin neck portion integral therewith, and have the neck portion of a uniform thickness so as to permit it to be rolled uniformly outward over the collar, the thimble construction is found best and cheapest when the devices are manufactured in large quant ties.

Ny improved device is constructed and assembled complete at the factory. lin assembling the parts the collar member 19 is placed upon the flanged end of the sleeve and then the thimble member which has pre-.

viously had its edges 28 turned outward is passed downward through the openings 33 in the collar and into the sleeve, then its one may rotate relative to the other.

lower edge 29 is rolled outward by a swaging operation which permanently but loosely connects these two members together so that The head member 10 is then placed upon the collar 19, the collar 16 is positioned and the naineoe rivets 23 are passed through the openings in both and are spread beneath the collar 1 thereby rigidly connecting these two collars but permitting the head 10 to rotate freely between them. ln this manner the whole is formed into a strong and durable unitary structure all assembled and ready for instant service and by this construction none of the parts can be lost and the fragile porcelain cannot be cracked or injured when the device is being connected to the conduit.

By this construction the sleeve 24 may be made of cast iron or any other suitable material and may be produced in large quantities with its inwardly turned edge 26, and the ferrule member may be formed of an entirely different material such as brass, steel or other bendable material which is adapted to be rolled and bent over the parts to connect the two members permanently but loosely together. ln this way a number of advantages are obtained; first the cost of the parts is considerably reduced over the old construction; second the cost of assembling is much reduced; and third, the whole presents a stronger devicethan where the neck portion is formed integral with the sleeve member.

A further advantage of my present construction is that l have provided a clip member 34: formed integral on the side of the sleeve member. This clip is formed of a finger extending from the side of the sleeve and turned downward into somewhat of a hook form, thereby forming a pocket 35 into which the end of .a ground wire may be passed and readily soldered and permanently connected to the sleeve. Tn some instances this grounding of the conduit is found essential and is demanded. By forming this clip of a thin strip of metal the same may be readily heated to cause the solder to flow around the ground wire set therein.

l have shown and described one means of connecting the sleeve member loosely to the 'to receive the electric wires, a collar plate loosely connected to the said head whereby one may freely rotate independent of the other and a conduit receiving sleeve having an inwardly turned flange to which said plate is connected to receive a relative rotation thereon, whereby said sleeve may be screwed onto the threaded end of a conduit without rotating said head.

.2. An electric conduit terminal compri sing a head having openings therethrough to receive the electric wires, a collar plate loosely connected to the said head whereby one may freely rotate independent of the other, and a conduit receiving sleeve having a rigid laterally-extending flange to which said plate is loosely connected to receive av relative rotation thereon, whereby said sleeve -may be screwed onto the threaded end of a conduit without rotating said head.

3. An electric conduit terminal comprising a head having holes to receive the electric wires, a collar member connected to said head, a sleeve having a laterally extendingflange and a ferrule turned over the edge of the collar and also that of the flange to loosely connect the two together.

4. An electric conduit terminal comprising a head having holes to receive the electric wires, a collar member connected to said head, said collar being provided with a central opening, a sleeve having an inwardly extending flange and a ferrule turned over both the inner edge of said collar and that of said inturned sleeve flange to loosely connect them together, said sleeve being threaded to engage a corresponding portion on the conduit whereby it may be screwed thereon without rotating the cap.

5. An electric conduit terminal comprising an insulating head having openings for the passage of electriowires and a flange about its lower edge, a collar member fitting over said flange, a second collar on the bottom of said head, means for connecting said collars together, said bottom collar being .provided with a central opening, and a l ing an insulating head having openings for the passage of electric wires and a flange about its lower edge, a collar member fitting over said flange, a second collar on the bottom of said cap, members extending between and connecting said collars whereby said head may rotate between them, said second collar being provided with a central opening, and a threaded sleeve loosely connected to said collar whereby said sleeve may be screwed onto the threaded end of a conduit without rotating said head.

7. An electric conduit terminal comprising an insulating head having openings for the passage of electric wires and a flange about its lower edge, a collar member fitting over said flange, a second collar on the bot tom of said cap and members extending between and loosely connecting said collars whereby said head may freely rotate be tween them, said second collar being provided with a central opening, a sleeve having an inwardly extending flange and a ferrule turned over both the inner edge of said collar and'the flange of said sleeve to loosely connect the two together, said sleeve being threaded to engage a corresponding portion on the conduit whereby it may be positioned thereon without rotating the cap.

8. An electric conduit terminal comprising a head having openings therethrough to receive the electric wires and a laterally extending flange about its lower edge, a collar member fitted over said flange, a second collar member on the bottom of said head, shouldered rivets arranged to space said members to loosely engage said flange and permanently connect these collars together, a sleeve adapted. to be secured to a conduit, and means for connecting said sleeve to said lower collar member.

9. An electric conduit terminal comprising a head having openings therethrough to receive the electric wires, a collar plate loosely connected to the said head whereby one may freely rotate independent of the other, and a conduit receiving sleeve loosely connected to said collar whereby said sleeve may be secured onto the threaded endof a conduit without rotating said head, said sleeve being provided with an arm integral with said sleeve and extending a substan tial distance therefrom and having means 'at its end to which a grounding wire may 

